Dr Jekyll and Mr Hale
by stacyr223
Summary: A story about what could have happened had Hyde not been evil. An examination of what pure good does to the world. One man will show his true nature, and one will show only one half of himself. Who or what will prevail, and what happens to the other.
1. Chapter 1

A/N

Before I let you read my first chapter there are a couple things I need to say/do. First this is my first time publishing a fan fiction, but hopefully not the last time either. I have written pieces before but didn't like how they worked and got rid of them actually. So please read and review for my sanity's sake. I should be posting about once every other week, or if you're lucky once a week but i will promise every other week barring exams and essays being due.

Disclaimer: I am not Robert Louis Stevenson, that would be a brilliant trick though! I own nothing except for Mr. Hale and a few events in the future. This is the only time I will write the disclaimer though.

And without further ado what you really wanted, the story.

* * *

Mr. Utterson, a man of few emotions, and even fewer in words. Though still a kind man, one who was pleasant enough to be around. Though nothing about his seeming indifference would suggest it he had an altogether human side, manifested in his actions, rather than his words. He was inclined to help, in any case, rather than reproach any man. He had friends certainly, but they were those that came of convenience, as a lawyer there were many such friends, or rather acquaintances. His closest friends were those he had known the longest, few in number and mainly consisting of his companions from childhood and his kinsmen. Mr. Enfield, a distant kinsman could be called a close friend. Though the pair seemed to have nothing in common, they could still be seen every Sunday, whilst on their weekly walk. For the most part they remained silent. To those who encountered them they looked rather dull, but at the appearance of a friend their relief was evident. But for all of this the two enjoyed these walks the most of their entire week, and each chose to forgo both pleasure and business alike so that they might enjoy their walk without interruption.

By chance alone on one such walk they encountered an unusual sight on the streets of London. A man, near to their own age, but who somehow seemed different by some merit, neither could figure. Now this man was helping a small girl, who, was for some unknown reason, screaming. Nothing too unusual, but certainly nothing ordinary either. Mesmerized the pair watched the man, what was unusual was how extraordinarily kind this man seemed, to a street urchin nonetheless. This was what made the encounter so unusual, what man of some class will stop to dirty himself on a street, stooping down to the ground so as to be at eye level with the child. Yes they figured there was indeed something odd about this man. And as suddenly as they had happened upon the man he had vanished, behind some street corner, somewhere. But neither cared to try to follow and so continued on their way. As they were walking Enfield, having recalled a similar encounter with a man, of similar stature and feature, and so he recounted to Utterson what he had seen no more than two weeks prior.

"A child, no older than this girl, had been run into by a juggernaut of a man, one no one recognized, but he continued on his way, with haste, toward that door, without even looking back he entered into the door and was not seen for the remainder of the incident, indeed it seemed as though he had vanished. Upon seeing the child, in obvious pain, howling, for his mother no doubt this man carried the child to the nearest doctor, paying for the visit himself, without regard to cost or repayment. No hesitation at all I tell you! And once the bill had been settled he left without another word. I had overheard the man speaking with the doctor and heard him mention his name, Mr. James Hale as I recall it was.

"How strange indeed" replied Mr. Utterson when Enfield had finished recounting his story. I do not think we have seen the last of this man. And on this the pair parted ways until the following Sunday.

But indeed there was a look about this Hale, one that both had noticed. They could see no imperfections in the slightest, none that they could perceive at the very least. But still something seemed odd, something was not quite right, but neither knew what it was, a certain wariness for his instant likeability seemed probable to Utterson, one that seemed quite unfamiliar however. But he shrugged it off, and decided to think no more of it.

Enfield however he tried was unable to put the incidents from his mind, musing aloud on the subject to no one but himself saying; "How dare he make a mockery of being a gentleman, so overly generous and kind. This will be the end of this man, if I do say so myself, jealousy and pride and greed being a prominent feature of a gentleman in this day. And gentlemen do not take well to insult direct or perceived." The more he thought on the subject the more it incensed him. He continued to fume well into the night. It was then he remembered how mysterious and unclear each situation was. This seemed to pacify the man and he decided to give in to his increasing weariness, but deep inside his mind he could not forget the odd occurrences.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A document, a means for concern

Two weeks after this strange encounter Mr. Utterson received a document from a friend, Mr. Henry Jekyll. As Utterson was a lawyer this was not out of the ordinary. However, this document did seem rather unusual, a last will and testament for Jekyll, again this would seem standard to Utterson, however what troubled him was that in this document all of Henry Jekyll's assets were left to one Mr. James Hale in the case of his death or any unexplained absence of over three consecutive calendar months. Now herein was his concern, for of all the people he had spoken with not one knew anymore than he about Mr. Hale, in fact, most knew even less than he did which was no small feat. But as for those who did know something it was soon realized that Mr. Hale's appearances were becoming more frequent. Along with this he was also beginning to realize that he was indeed a very rich man, one whose pockets seemed endlessly deep when it came to philanthropy. Yes, Utterson was nervous about all of this. A very odd circumstance to coincide with everything else that seemed to be swirling around Jekyll. You see Utterson had noticed a change in Jekyll in the past few weeks, quite subtle, but his old friend had seemed more fanciful than his usual self, more detached. It was all rather disconcerting. He decided that it was time for a visit to a mutual friend of himself and Jekyll.

Dr. Lanyon was another man of good standing in London at the time, a gentleman whose hair had gone white rather prematurely, but added to the air of gentility that surrounded him. He was an old friend of both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Utterson dating back to when the three were still in school together. Utterson decided that if anyone would know what Jekyll's odd behavior was or why he left everything to Mr. Hale it would be Lanyon. Arriving at the residence of Dr. Lanyon he was greeted by a solemn butler who welcomed him and without delay ushered him directly to the dining room. Upon seeing his friend Lanyon sprung up and greeted him most fondly. To anyone looking in it would seem too theatrical to be genuine, however the feeling was quite genuine. Each man respected the other, and surprisingly also enjoyed the company of the other.

After some amount of small talk, necessary before any serious conversation, Utterson brought up the reason why he had dropped in. "I suppose we must be the oldest friends of Henry Jekyll" Utterson remarked.

Lanyon replied "I wish the friends were younger" with a small chuckle. Utterson was confused at this remark and queried as to its meaning. "We have not talked in over a year; I see precious little of him anymore" was Lanyon's response. Utterson was rather surprised to hear this for he had thought that the two had a common bond. Lanyon continued speaking saying " More than ten years it has been since Henry Jekyll became too fanciful for me, he began to go wrong, in the head I mean, but now I see very little of him. Such unscientific nonsense!" Lanyon had flushed purple, momentarily losing control of his normally even temper.

So Utterson believed that the two disagreed on some point of science (which had never interested him) and asked if Lanyon knew anything about this Mr. Hale, whom Jekyll had seemed to grow close to recently. "Never heard of the man, must have been after my time" was all Lanyon remarked. And with that the two parted.

Utterson now had even more questions to ponder than he had had when he arrived, and was no closer to answering the ones he had arrived with. Hale was a mystery, and one that he had to solve, preferably sooner rather than later he muttered darkly to himself. Walking back past the first place he had seen Hale, he saw a man, similar in stature to Hale. Deciding to approach him he called out "Mr. Hale, I presume?"

Hale turned and replied, "Yes, I am Hale, and what would you like of me this evening?" in a warm, calming tone.

"I am an old friend of Dr. Jekyll's – Mr. Utterson, of Gaunt Street, I thought we could speak for a moment" replied Utterson.

"Dr. Jekyll is away this evening, I am sorry, and might I ask how you knew me?" was all that Hale replied.

"By description, as well as seeing you once before." retorted Utterson, obviously frustrated by the seemingly infinite patience and courtesy of the man.

"And whose description was this?" replied Hale, unfazed by Utterson's growing displeasure.

"We have common friends, Dr. Jekyll for one" He responded shortly.

"Jekyll did not tell you though" he said patiently, as though explaining this to a small child "Good night sir, I am retiring for the evening"

With a fresh flush of anger Utterson stalked off to his home on Gaunt Street. He muttered to himself in short phrases "Madness" and "How dare he" or "Jekyll has indeed gone mad, leaving everything to him". He finally concluded when reason won over again that something else was going on, something he remained quite unaware of. And much to his surprise he found that Hale was still perfectly likeable, it was very odd, he could not find anything he distinctly disliked, except perhaps that the man was too kind and generous. But who could fault a man for that, he wondered.

Enfield on the other hand was becoming more and more enraged by the minute about the curious circumstances swirling around this Mr. Hale. He was still as mysterious as ever, but words of his extraordinary kindness were become quite common in the market place, spreading like wildfire. This will not do at all he thought to himself. He is ruining the standing of any man who calls himself a gentleman in this day and place. The people are talking, wondering why more gentlemen are not like Hale, they whisper it, under their breaths, but we can still hear it. "Let pride, anger and avarice be our sins, for I will have no more of it!" He shouted to no one in particular. "We are fast approaching the point of no return!"


	3. Chapter 3

Mr. Utterson was pleased to receive an invitation to dinner in two week's time from none other than Henry Jekyll. This was a much more fitting, pleasant and natural state for his old friend. It also would give him a chance to inquire as to why Hale was so important in his will. For at this point he was becoming more and more curious about this man, but he found that he knew no more than he had previously. In fact the more he tried to learn the more the man was cast into shadow. It was an odd business indeed, an odd business he intended to stay out of and one he desperately hoped his friend would do likewise. But as was his standard argument for the man he thought that in these times a little good did seem necessary and perhaps people ought to be more like Hale. Certainly this would make the world a better place, even if it was only a slight change.

Jekyll however was beginning to find a problem, he knew that Utterson was less than pleased with his Last Will and Testament. Indeed he had made that quite vocal on a number of occasions. But he knew that at some point the man would have to find out the truth, for it seemed that he would not be at ease unless he knew why Jekyll had not seemed to be himself in recent days. But this was beside the point; he had decided that the one man he could trust to carry out what he needed was Lanyon. Though they were not close friends by any means at this time, in fact they had argued over this very idea ten years ago, but he still believed that Lanyon was the only man he could trust with this information. For if Utterson was to find out the answer Lanyon would certainly learn the reason for his change in demeanor at some point as well. It seemed to be for the best, it would keep his lawyer off the truth for a while longer, and he certainly hoped that it would remain as such.

Jekyll was not a fool by any means; he was a quite intelligent man, quick of wit, and rather clever. And though he was the only man who knew at the time he had made a crucial discovery to human nature in his separation of good and evil in man. Indeed he could separate the very qualities that made man good and evil, qualities that were usually in balance in any man. Indeed, and could even change himself at will, though in only one direction as it were. He also knew that Utterson was growing concerned, very concerned. He was making his concerns and reservations quite vocal to Jekyll. He decided that it was the proper time to dispel his concerns, perhaps an invitation to dinner with mutual friends was in order. But as time passed it was as his friend feared, Jekyll was becoming more tortured by this experiment that had worked, though it had not been meant to do so. Hale, the perfect demonstration of morality of a gentleman in the age was wearing thin, already he had heard the man mentioned in various circles, both rich and poor. In short he was gaining a reputation that outshone that of anyone else living in London.

This was his concern, Hale needed to remain in the shadows, being remembered as little as possible, however this seemed less and less possible. Furthermore the animosity toward Hale was increasing rapidly from well-bred gentlemen. This did not forebode well for him at all, considering that he was so closely tied to the man. It was only a matter of time until he was pressed for answers he couldn't give, answers he wouldn't give. Now he decided was the time, he knew that things were growing out of hand, in ways he least expected. And with that he began to write his private account of what had happened in the last ten years, ever since he started on this notion, despite the vehement pleas from his former friend Lanyon.


	4. Chapter 4

"Extra. Extra. Read all about it!" A swirl of newspapers around the square, young boys shouting to sell the latest sensational edition of their respective papers. Noise and confusion fill the empty spaces, until the silence had left every corner. Mutters of what had happened the previous evening. Of course Utterson knew why the chaos was so prevalent. The murder of Sir Danvers Carew, the sole witness a servant in his own home, no one knew anymore than this, however high society was already placing blame on the least probable man, Mr. Hale. Of course he knew all this as he was Carew's lawyer and he had been called in to identify the body, which he did with relative ease. Now the only question left was why it had happened. And more importantly to him alone was why pressure was being placed on Hale. Hoping to abate some of these concerns he decided to leave the sanctuary and quiet of his home for the chaos below, braving a short trip to purchase a newspaper and with any luck shed light on what had happened.

Murder in London, Sir Danvers Carew Dead

William Stone

In a well-to-do neighborhood in London Sir Danvers Carew was murdered yesterday afternoon. An anonymous source was able to tell us that he was likely beaten to death, his assailant using a blunt weapon of sorts to kill the man. As of yet this weapon has yet to be discovered, and it seems likely that is will remain that way. In an interesting twist to the story there was a single witness to his death, a servant in the Carew estate. The young woman had been taken into custody on suspicion of involvement in this murder. It appears that there is neither distinct motive, nor any probable suspects in this case. But this does not stop people from placing blame on one man, Mr. James Hale.

We have from an anonymous source that Mr. Hale is quite mysterious and solitary. He rarely ventures out, yet this still does not quell the stir of rumor around the man. Some say he is a philanthropist, caring to the end of all imagination and wealth, others state that his kindness is merely a ruse, hiding a darker side; one that many believe is capable of murder. The most interesting side of this man is that despite all of the rumors around him there seems to be no one who even claims to know the man on any level other than having seen him at one point or another. Mysterious indeed and perhaps this is what fuels the calls to investigate the man further and his possible involvement in this sad state of affairs.

As for the fair and unbiased opinion of this humble reporter, praised for several of his works relating to the political trials in France, the entire situation has been vastly inflated, into something it obviously isn't. And now this reporter is left with one simple question, why has the bulk of the population jumped to the unfounded conclusion that Hale must be responsible? It seems illogical, and directly against a fair and just investigation against a man who is now guilty unless proven innocent.

"Dreadful business, and to think I saw the man only a week ago," Utterson remarked to no one in particular. But as he was deciding to keep his interest in the man minimal he was also looking forward to the dinner with Dr. Jekyll in a week's time. For it was obvious that answers were needed now more than ever from his old friend and client. For if this went to trial he would certainly be dragged in. He could only hope that he would be able to reason with his old friend in time to keep his good name out of the entire situation that he had unknowingly put himself into nearly two months ago when he had written this Will. Indeed now might be the proper time to dissuade him from it, at least he certainly hoped that it would be, for this had not been sitting well with him, despite his promise to maintain a general disinterest in the man.

Mr. Enfield rejoiced in hearing the news that day however, not because the man was dead, but because Hale was being blamed for it. "Brings him down a notch it does," he exclaimed in his study. Clearly pleased in this turn of fate, a perfect man was on the verge of being accused of murder. This would surely bring everything back to how it was before his sudden, unexpected arrival. Fate had indeed turned in his favor and he was certain to take advantage of it. He would never mention to a soul that he was directly responsible for the shadow of doubt being placed over Hale, it was now irrelevant, the deed was done and when it succeeded he would have the knowledge, no, the satisfaction of saving not only his own reputation, but also that of every man who called himself a gentleman.

Dr Jekyll on the other hand visibly paled at the news, though no one other than himself, and possibly Lanyon could possibly know the reason why. For it was only these two men who knew about the contaminated substance he used in recent experiments, as well as the accident that ensued. And it was only Jekyll who knew the full repercussions of what had happened. This was bad news indeed. It was time for him to do something, he needed to cease any transformations immediately until things had calmed, before he was pressed too hard by Utterson for information. This was devastating news, and the worst was yet to come he feared.

~/~/~/~/~/~

A/N I am back to writing after going insane with a research project for a comp class this past month or so, but now I will update more often since I don't have a 15 wek class packed into half the time. So thanks for reading and please review! I like reviews, a lot.


	5. Author's Note

One big author's note for you people who actually read my story!

I am so sorry I haven't posted lately, but stuff got crazy, I caught the flu and a major case of writer's block, and I am so stubborn that I refuse to change the direction of my story, which means that until I manage to find a way to get everything semi cohesive I have to put this on hiatus. I promise I will return, probably in a few weeks when I find some clever, simple solution that is so obvious I overlooked it until then and I finish another chapter or two and post them for the world to see! Until then pardon my lack of updates….


End file.
